Dragon Ball C
by JaiChan5
Summary: Dragon Ball Consequences (renamed). This an alternative to Dragon Ball GT. It takes place six years after the end of DBZ. The saga's are based off DBGT but are told very differently, particularly the Black Star Dragon Ball saga. Look for moopoopower on Deviantart to see related artworks.
1. Prologue

Dragon Ball C Prologue

Six years have passed since Goku left his home in order to train Uub in his small village. In order to make it easier for the child, Goku thought it would be best to train Uub from the boys home rather than his own, especially since Uub's power was really his doing in the first place when he asked for Marjin Buu's reincarnation. At the time he made that request, his thoughts were mostly focused on the good it would do to have someone that strong fighting as his ally when need be, as well as how good of a training partner and friendly rival somebody with that level of strength would be, but what he didn't consider so much was the amount of training and time required to hone such a potentially high power, and since Goku was responsible, he knew that he had a duty to this boy and to everyone else to make sure that Uub could master his strength as it grew with him.

Lucky for Goku's saiyan appetite, Mr Satan, acting as Uub's financial sponsor, was more than capable of providing his family and village with enough money to live comfortably after the World Martial Arts tournament those six years ago, so Goku wasn't putting them out with all he ate.

During his time with Uub's family, Goku became quite popular among the townspeople due to both his strength and his kind nature. Sometimes he would even allow some of the other children in the village to join in with them during their lighter training sessions, which they seemed to really enjoy and benefit from.

He thought briefly for a little while about taking Uub to Mount Paozu to train on occasions but after seeing how extreme his power was and the destruction he caused when he lost control, the saiyan dismissed the thought. In order to keep Uub's power under control, Goku had to spend long hours on a daily basis training him strictly and monitoring his progress. He knew that if he were to go home, his family and friends would serve as a distraction from his duty and if Uub ever lost control and harmed any of them because of this, Goku would not be able to forgive himself.

Part of him actually regretted the request he made to have Marjin Buu's power reincarnated. Sure, he loved training the boy, as well as spending time with him, but perhaps he should have considered the consequences of his request more. Sure, learning to control Uub's power would be very beneficial to the safety of earth were a new threat to surface; but was it really right to make Uub bear this burden? Or to make Goku's own family have to thrive without him yet again on the off chance something bad may happen? But what's done is done, whether a mistake or the right decision, it's something that has to be dealt with now. Goku would make absolute sure that Uub would master his power and go on to be a strong, healthy and happy person and he would go back to his family and friends even stronger, resting easy that he and Uub could protect them, along with the rest of earth, if the worst were to happen.


	2. 1: Six Years Late

**Authors notes:** _Something I should have addressed prior to the prologue is that this, for those who don't know, is a long overdue fan fiction that is basically a revamp of a (very poorly drawn) fan comic I started several years ago in which I attempted to remake DBGT. Given the fact that I got older and busier, I couldn't really keep up with it, and I was also starting to wish I'd done some things (more like a lot of things) better, so I decided to eventually discontinue it and remake it as a fan fiction._

_Like I said in the description, check out Moopoopower on DeviantArt for related artworks and character bios, as well as the original comic I made and just general artworks by me. _

_In this story, I'm going to attempt to pay more attention to characters that GT (and even some of Z) ignored (such as human characters) I'm going to try and make newer characters like Pan, Uub and Bra live up to their potentials as characters and I'm going to avoid putting the focus purely on Goku and his power. I'm also including a few OC's and changing up a few personalities for characters from GT like Valise that were exclusive to that series and characters that appeared little in Z, such as Pan. I will admit, that I don't know if this will turn out better than GT like I hope, but I am certainly hoping that it will and I am going to really try with it to make it an enjoyable fan fiction._

_I don't own Dragonball, Dragonball Z or Dragonball GT._

**Six Years Later**

In the uninhabited mountain lands located several hundred kilometres East of Uub's village, a now sixteen year old Uub faces off against his mentor, Goku. In order to test both Uub's power and how well he could control it, Goku had decided to take the boy on in a very intense sparring match. He wasn't necessarily expecting him to win, but even if Uub lost, if he could focus his energy into effective defensive and offensive moves instead of allowing himself to become consumed by his power out of fear and frustration, causing not much more than mindless destruction, Goku knew his job training this young boy would be well paid off.

The fight had begun with Goku fighting as his regular self, but as it progressed, he found himself having to power up to his super saiyan level in order to keep his lead over his pupil.

As the two continued to spar at ground level, Uub was beginning to feel fatigued and presumed that it must have be showing in his movements as he was beginning to slow down. Realising this, he suddenly sprung back a few meters from his mentor and started to focus a large amount of energy to his hands as quickly as he could to form an attack in the hope of taking Goku off guard and gaining the upper hand. Goku, however, was too quick. Recognising the all too familiar gesture and growing ball of energy, Goku quickly mimicked it and formed a Kamehameha of his own to counter it.

As the two waves collided, pushing the fighters further away from one another, the ground and mountains beneath began to crack and crumble away and the further scenery became illuminated in the glow of their energy beams.

They remained interlocked for several minutes before Uub began to feel himself weaken, allowing Goku's Kamehameha to push further towards him. Uub knew he was losing but he had to keep control of his power. Closing his eyes, he began to focus his energy more and more until he was able to unleash a greater power that wasn't completely out of his control. He just had to remember what he was taught.

Goku could hear Uub letting out a loud scream, attempting to power up further. He could recognise the technique and proceeded to smirk slightly after he managed to get a glimpse of the the red aura emitting from Uub's body in the not so far distance.

"KAIOKEN!" Uub screamed as his body became engulfed in red.

Still locked in the Kamehameha, Uub was no longer losing; in fact the sudden burst of energy seemed to be pushing Uub's wave further than Goku's. As this battle continued however, unfortunately for Uub, Goku managed to regain the upper hand as he got use to Uub's power rather quickly.

Realising that his mentor was once again, gaining the upper hand, Uub increased the level of his kaioken to times two, then to times three, but unfortunately for him, Goku also increased his power by ascending in to his second super saiyan state.

It was lunch time at Satan City Primary School and a group of 10 to 12 year old children were talking amongst themselves, but anyone close enough by could easily tell that the smallest of them was not a part of the apparent friendship group, instead being their target to harass.

Pan Son stared at her feet as to avoid the gaze of the groups ring leader. It was a boy from her class; Daifuku. He and his friends, a combination of kids from other classes, like usual, were mocking her because of her 'un-girly' interests. Yes, they may have all been aware of her involvement in martial arts and they knew she was strong; but every child in that group remained blissfully unaware of what she was truly capable of with her saiyan heritage.

"Why do you always do boys stuff? You know you're a GIRL right? You're only supposed to do girl things not fight or play video games!" Daifuku continued to lamely insult her with his pitiful attempt at sarcasm.

"Sometimes I'm not sure what she is," added a female voice.

"She- sorry IT'S just a freak," added another boys voice, now looking in her direction, "Maybe if you acted like a normal girl, people would want to be nicer to you. You're just like that loser Takeshi you hang out with!"

Pan's brow twitched at the mention of one of the few friends she had her own age.

"A boy who thinks he's a girl and a girl who thinks she's a boy!" Daifuku laughed, "Maybe they should date!"

The kids all laughed as Pan continued to stare irritably at her feet. She wanted to fly off but she didn't want to give anyone around another reason to think she was weird, and walking away was pointless as they'd just follow her.

The girl that spoke previously approached her.

"Seriously though, you'll never get a boyfriend if you don't start acting like a normal girl. Boys hate it when girls-"

She was cut off as a dirt clod that had been thrown hit the side of her head.

"It's not a girls job to cater to what boys like," a feminine sounding voice lectured the group as the owner of it approached, " just as it's not your job to assume what all boys like, and being in a relationship isn't something that everyone wants in life, especially not a bunch of school kids!"

As the girl, her brown locks now decorated with grey-brown dirt particles, turned to abuse the person who messed up her hair, she froze as she saw Bra Brief approaching.

Uub slowly opened his eyes to see the blue of the sky being tainted with a few thin, white clouds.

"Oh good, I was worried I overdid it and knocked you out!" Laughed the familiar voice of his mentor amidst a relieved sigh.

Pushing himself to sit, Uub found himself facing Goku.

"Damn," Uub let out a soft laugh as he stood, "I thought I had you for a second."

"So did I. Either way, you did really well Uub!"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah; in fact, I think it's about time for our official training to end."

Goku continued to smile after his words, spoken so nonchalantly. Uub just stared, taking in what he had just been told. Was Goku for real? Did he really think Uub was strong and composed enough to be left to train himself?

"Are you serious Goku?..."

"Yeah. I mean, you may not have won that fight, but I could definitely tell how much stronger and more in control of your power you had become since the last time we fought like this. Honestly, I think you should be just fine on your own now."

Uub's stunned face began to turn into a huge, slightly teary smile.

"Well done Uub!"

Goku was interrupted by a small but strong pair of arms wrapping around his midsection.

"Thank you Goku! It's all thanks to you that I got this good!"

Goku let out a kind laugh as he rested a hand on his students head. "Hey, it wasn't just me you know. You were putting in a lot of hard work to make yourself a stronger person, and helping you also helped me become stronger to, so I should thank you as well."

Uub pulled away, a little embarrassed about his sudden outburst of emotion but not regretful.

"You just have to remember to keep training hard when I'm gone!"

"Of course," Uub responded enthusiastically.

"I'm so bored!" Sighed a lavender haired man from behind his work desk.

"Hey, at least in you're a high position man," retorted another young man, this one with spiky black hair.

"Goten, why are you even in my office anyway? Shouldn't you be working?"

"I'm on my lunch break, and what better way to spend it than entertaining my best friend while he works!"

"Late lunch break, it's nearly 3. Anyway, you should be spending it with Valise in you guys' dojo…"

"Oh don't be like that! She's not in today anyway, so it's just me and this little monkey."

Goten playfully poked the belly of the giggling baby sitting in his lap.

"Why did I not notice her until now?" Trunks sighed, "ugh, this paper work really is exhausting my brain."

"How could you not notice Sammi?" The baby in question made a series of playful sounds in response.

"Clearly I'm not in the mood to pay attention to my surroundings right now…"

"Why don't you take a break and help me demonstrate some stuff for my afternoon class when I go back?"

"I suppose I could. Anything to get away from this stuff for a little while."

"I thought you wanted to be involved in the family business."

"I did, but that doesn't mean I enjoy every aspect of working for Capsule Corp."

Suddenly, a foul smell caught the young men's nostrils. Both of their heads turned to Sammi, who smiled amusedly at them in response.

"So I'm just going to leave Sammi hear while I go to the vending machine and-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Trunks warned.

"Thanks for helping me out…" Pan spoke a little shyly as she walked.

"Didn't have much of a choice," responded Bra, walking beside her, "you looked like you were about to murder them."

"I wasn't…"

"Good! Because no matter what someone does, violence is-"

"Never acceptable against a defenceless opponent, I know I know. You sound like my dad, which is weird considering who your dad is…"

"Well my dad more so sees weak opponents as not worthy of his attention, but same thing, kind of…"

Pan laughed.

"Anyway, why don't you just tell those kids that Mr. Satan is your grandfather? They'd back off if they knew you were the 'world champs' granddaughter."

"I don't know… It just doesn't feel right to use my family to make people like me…"

"It's not about making people like you Pan, I'm just saying, it'll keep them off your back. Popular for things like that or not, if you know how to tell who your real friends are, I don't think there's anything to really worry about. "

"I suppose… I guess that explains why people are so scarred of you," Pan joked, "given how powerful your family is."

"Hey, they're scarred of me because I'm a strong fighter. And my intelligence, confidence and feminine charm just add to the intimidation I emit!"

Both girls laughed a little, but not as to completely refute Bra's last comment. She certainly was Bulma and Vegeta's child.

"Anyway," continued Bra, "you should at least learn to stand up for yourself if you can't ignore what people say and do to you. Getting physical and being mean like them aren't the only options you know. Anyway, I should hurry home; I'm supposed to be training with my dad."

They waved each other goodbye as Bra flew off into the distance towards Capsule Corp.

Pan decided to walk a little more before taking off home to do her homework and get ready for her evening training session with Piccolo. She supposed Bra was right, but Pan just didn't know how to stand up for herself like that. Maybe for the time being she could just try ignoring them as Piccolo recommended when she briefed her bully situation with him.

Just as with most afternoons, Vegeta was training in his gravity room.

Recent years had been peaceful, but that did not stop the saiyan warrior from continuing to put his body and mind through intense training on a regular basis. Friends and family, little as he would like to admit, had managed to give him a soft spot over the years, but that wouldn't impact upon the development of his strength, in fact there were some occasions in which having loved ones helped to push his ambitions. The whole idea of 'having something to fight for' seemed laughable to him in his younger days prior to making a life on earth; he'd never have imagined back then that it was something that he'd come to understand.

Now, he was attempting to push himself into reaching his most recent goal; achieving and maintaining the third level of super saiyan.

Ever since he'd managed to momentarily go into a super saiyan three state two years ago, he was determined to do it again, but since that one incident, he had not been able to reach his goal. Vegeta was fairly certain he knew why though. What he used to push himself into that state was something that even he refused to do again.

It was while on the verge of reaching that state that Vegeta, desperate to reach such a close goal, imagined, as vividly as possible, himself in the most devastating and enraging position he could ever be in. He mentally put himself in a situation where he was being forced to watch Bulma, Trunks and Bra being tortured and killed before his very eyes.

His lover and his children; all bleeding, bruised, bones broken, skin torn, limbs severed; all of these images he made as real as possible in his mind. He'd never spoken a word of it to anyone and probably never would. The thoughts he had made even him feel ashamed and disgusted to the point where he could only keep the mental scene for a few seconds before dismissing them and losing his new found power and passing out from the mental and physical stress.

Pushing the memory aside, he scoffed at himself and put his focus back on his workout. He had a feeling he'd need to be in top notch to prove himself soon.

Night had set in and Goku, Uub and his family were beginning dinner in the medium sized family hut. It was the younger two siblings turn to prepare dinner that night, and they made sure to make plenty of food to compensate for Goku's appetite.

The young cooks, one a young girl and the other a slightly older boy, looked at Goku, seeking approval, as he scoffed down his first bowel of curry and rice. As he quickly finished, Goku noticed their stares.

"This food is great!" he complimented honestly as he reached to refill his bowel, "you two did a great job."

The kids smiled at each other in response.

"That's very good to hear," began Uub's mother from across the small dinner table "as this will be your last meal with us before going back home I hear."

Uub's mother was a fairly small middle aged woman who Uub's facial features resembled. She was a rather rambunctious woman but also very kind and welcoming.

"Yeah that's right" Goku responded enthusiastically, "Uub's done really well in his training and can pretty well train himself now."

"We're very grateful to you Goku," Commented Uub's more serious father, an average sized middle aged man with small eyes and a similar hair style to Uub.

"Ah don't mention it. It was great to train your son!"

Goku noticed the sad looks on the faces of Uub's younger brothers and sister.

"Hey, don't worry guys! I'll come and visit you heaps, since I know instant transmission, it'll be easy!"

The kids perked up a little.

"And you know, Uub might need some sparring partners! You guys can help him out from time to time, since I taught you all a bit of stuff to."

"Make sure you all gang up on him!" Uub's grandmother, who was also present, added, making the kids laugh.

"Hey wait Goku!" the eldest of Uub's younger brothers spoke up suddenly, "If you know how to travel places so quickly with instant transmission, why didn't you visit your family and friends more!"

"I really wanted to," responded Goku, "but I knew if I did, I'd get caught up spending time with them and lose focus on training Uub. But now that I can see how much he's improved, I can trust that he'll be fine without me keeping watch all the time."

Uub looked a little guilty, which Goku quickly noticed.

"But hey! It was my actions that gave you that power in the first place Uub, so it was my responsibility to help you master it."

"And you did well in doing so," Uub's grandmother commented again, "which reminds me, I have a gift for you to give to your deer wife and the rest of your family as gratitude for being kept from you for so long. I'll give it to you before you leave in the morning."

"Wow, really? You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

"It's no trouble; and given how long you've been away, showing up with gifts might lighten your punishment for being away for so long."

The kids all let out a brief laugh.

Goku scratched the back of his head, giving a sheepish grin.

"I can't say I'd blame her if she's mad. I have been gone for a while… again…"

"Well, you were doing something good, so I'm sure she'll come around," Uub's mother reassured.

"I sure hope so… I do put that wife of mine through a lot of stress…"


	3. 2: The Journey Home

**_Authors Notes:_**_To anyone reading, thank you for being patient with my uploading. Here is chapter two; I hope you'll enjoy, despite the slightly slow pace that things are going at at the moment._

_I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT, much to sadness._

**The Journey Home**

Goku rose not too long after the sun, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Uub and his family were all up at the same time to bid him farewell. After eating a large breakfast, getting dressed and packing the few belongings he had into a backpack, Goku was just about ready to head back home.

"Well this is it," Goku began his farewell, "it's been great living with you all these past years."

"We want to thank you again for working so hard with our son, Goku," Uub's father spoke gratefully.

"No, thank you for welcoming me with so much kindness and having me in your home for so long. You're all welcome in mine any time."

"And would you also give our thanks to Mr. Satan for all his generous support when you see him?" Uub's mother asked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him."

"Thank you."

"Don't forget this Goku." Uub's grandmother handed Goku the gift she made for his family.

Goku unfolded it to take a look. It was a rug of sorts with an unusual texture. It consisted of a combination of neatly attached blue and orange patches with an interesting swirly pattern embroidered around the trim. What caught most of Goku's attention however, were the images of him, Uub and both of their families embroidered over the middle.

"It's a quilt I made with the materials our village produces. I used the photographs you showed us of you, your wife, children and grandchild to look at while I made it. I wanted to make you and your family something that would show them how much we got to know them just through you, and also show them apart of us, as well as make sure you don't forget your time here."

"This is amazing. Thank you so much! Chichi and the others will love it. I sure do!"

"Are you gunna do the transmission thingy?" Uub's seven year old sister curiously asked Goku.

"Nah, I think I'll fly home the old fashioned way."

Upon turning and waving goodbye, Goku took to the sky.

"Train hard Uub!" He called out as he elevated.

"I will!" Uub called back as Goku blasted off.

It was 8 am when Pan was due to meet Piccolo for training, but due to oversleeping, she was half an hour late. As a result, Piccolo was being particularly hard on her.

The ten year old tried her best to dodge the seemingly endless barrage of punches and kicks being thrown at her from all angles as Piccolo and her sparred well above ground level, but after several minutes of doing this for at least the 100th time in the past 2 hours or so, her best was not good enough as Piccolo's leg managed to come into contact with her midsection and send her flying into the side of a nearby cliff.

"You need to start taking more risks Pan!" Piccolo roared as she pulled herself out of the crater her body had formed, "all you're doing is blocking! You need to start looking for openings and attack, not just defend!"

"Yeah… Right!" Pan responded as she composed herself into a fighting stance on the ground.

Piccolo nodded in acknowledgement before launching to attack her. As he did this, the young quarter saiyan heeded his advice and quickly started to form an attack while she had the chance. Lifting both her arms so her hands where facing out in front of her forehead, she gathered enough energy in her hands to form her attack.

Mere microseconds before Piccolo was close enough to come into contact with her, she jumped backwards, creating more space between them, and-

"Masenko!"

Piccolo launched his hands forward to catch the blast and was sent about 50 meters back into the air before managing to stop himself while still holding off the masenko attack.

For a little while, Piccolo stayed in that position to see if Pan would attempt to increase or decrease her power, but upon not noting any difference, he formed a strong energy blast to counter Pan's attack.

Pan was quickly overpowered but before she was made to feel the effects of the blast, she released her hold on her masenko in order to jump out of the way at the last second, letting the energy Piccolo threw back at her create a crater similar to the one they made just minutes prior.

Pan looked at Piccolo expecting to be yelled at. The Namek just sighed as he held his regular stern expression.

"Why did you jump back before firing your attack?" He asked her sternly, "It would have been more effective had you fired it from where you were to start since it would have been harder for me to react in time, and of course, the impact would have been somewhat stronger."

"Uh…" Pan responded, "I… don't know… I guess it was just a nervous reaction…"

"I see. You jumped back out of fear," Piccolo spoke more bluntly, "Another thing; why did you not try to increase your power when you saw that I'd stopped your attack? Or try to come up with something else to do? I even gave you time to try and overpower me before retaliating and you didn't even try to push yourself."

Pan didn't respond, much to Piccolo's expectation. He turned to leave.

"Sorry Piccolo… I'll try to do better next time…" Pan tried to reassure him.

"You're strong Pan, but you have the potential to be a lot stronger. You need to start pushing yourself and stop thinking you can't do any better, because I'm telling you; you can."

Pan was about to turn to leave, until she noticed Piccolo turning his head back to face her momentarily, with a slight smirk.

She looked at him questioningly.

"You know you'd better learn all that quickly kid. Your grandfather Goku wouldn't want to train with someone who holds back."

With that, Piccolo took off, leaving Pan mildly confused.

The normally peaceful backyard of Capsule Corp. was alive with the sparring session of two half saiyans.

Trunks managed to block an incoming kick launching towards his midsection by grabbing the offending leg of his opponent. Spinning on the spot, he threw her, launching her across the large yard before she managed to regain control of her projectile. While still in the air, Bra charged at her brother once more, this time managing to land a punch in the side of his face and knocking him off his feet. However, Trunks managed to catch himself and regain his balance as he fell back on his hands and before Bra could respond, he shot his leg up and kicked her in the chin with his foot, elevating her off the ground slightly before her back made contact with the grass. She immediately sprung back up and proceeded to run towards Trunks, until-

CHIIINNNG

"Well that's time," Trunks clarified as he returned to a normal stance.

Bra followed suit and went to disable the timer they'd set.

"You know it's actually nice to not train dad's way once and a while," said Bra.

"I hear you kiddo," Trunks agreed, "his way sure does get results but damn he knows how to take the fun out of it… Sometimes I just want to have a more relaxed spar."

"Oh so that was relaxing for you?" Bra remarked in sarcasm.

Trunks shot her a challenging smirk. "Are you suggesting we take it up a notch then?"

"I'll reset the timer…" Bra responded in a slightly enthusiastic tone.

"Same rules as before, whoever lands the most effective attacks within the set time wins."

After resetting the timer, Bra began to power up her energy. Trunks did the same. After a few moments, both half saiyans were enveloped in light golden auras as their hair began to stand on end and fade from blue and from purple to blond, and their eyes from blue to turquoise.

Both super saiyans were about to charge at each other and engage in combat when the all too familiar voice of their mother made itself present.

"Don't you two dare go all out like that here!"

Bulma walked out from the nearby work garage drabbed in slightly dirtied overalls.

"Your grandfather and I have a very important project going on in there and we don't want it ruined. If you must be 'all mighty super saiyans' you can go and train with your father in his gravity room."

Both fighters dismissed the thought as they powered down from super saiyan, not being in the mood for Vegeta's intense training on a Saturday.

"What are you working on anyway?" Bra asked curiously.

"It's a new space ship model," Trunks answered for her, "I've been helping to work on it a little."

"It's our fastest and most durable model yet, and it also takes a lot less to run on than all the older ones," Bulma commented proudly, "in fact, I was going to get you to join us tomorrow young lady."

"Me?!"

"Yeah I think it's time you learned more about the hands on aspect of all this. Your brother, grandfather and I have already taught you a heap of mechanical and engineering theory. Of course, you don't have to help, I just figured you'd be interested."

"Of course I'll help with it mum!" Bra was genuinely excited. Like many in her family, she possessed an interest in mechanics and engineering.

"What about you Trunks? Interested in using the start of your weekend to help out tomorrow?"

"Sorry; usually I would, but I already promised Marron and some of our old school friends I'd hang out tomorrow."

"Don't want to be kept from Marron do you?" Bra teased, making the young man blush.

"Ah shut up!"

"You're not going out with Number Eighteen and the short man's kid," an all too familiar voice made itself present.

The Briefs turned to see Vegeta approaching.

"Did you not sense me coming? How disappointing…" Vegeta spoke out of somewhat sarcasm.

"I did!" Bra piped up.

"What are you talking about dad?" Trunks asked, "You're not going to make me train are you?"

"It's not that son. He's returning. I can feel it. You'll see Marron when we go to him. Surely everyone, including that family, will be told to go and acknowledge his arrival."

"See who dad?" Bra asked.

Bulma gasped, realising who Vegeta was referring to. "You mean…"

"Kakarot. I can sense him approaching."

"Wow I didn't realise you'd be so happy to see Goku?" Trunks remarked.

"I want to see how his strength has developed after training that kid."

"Of course..."

"Well," Bulma continued, "If Goku really is back, I'd be happy to take some time off to go and see him or have the Sons over if they like."

"So no building space ships?" Bra asked, slightly crestfallen but not incredible disappointed.

"Sorry honey, we might have to wait until Sunday or through the week."

"That's fine. I'll get to see Pan at least."

"Don't want to be kept from Pan do you?" Trunks lamely tried to mimic her earlier comment.

"Ah shut up!" Like her brother, she blushed.

Krillin was doing laps on the beach around Kame house, something he found much easier in his younger days, while Eighteen meditated on the veranda of the house itself- something she'd taken to the habit of doing lately- when their daughter called for them from the front door way.

"Master Roshi is on the phone! He said that he and Oolong saw Goku in the city!"

"Say what?!" Krillin exclaimed as his jogging came to a halt.

Eighteen even turned her head in surprise from her position.

"He said that there was a situation…" Marron elaborated.

"Did you tell them?" The voice of Master Roshi was audible through the phone.

"A situation?" Krillin added as he approached the house.

"Yeah," Marron answered, "He was walking out of a restaurant and got in trouble for not paying…"

"Hey, Marron? Are you still there?..." The phone continued.

"Typical," Eighteen cut in in her monotone voice.

Krillin couldn't help but laugh a little despite the shock and the slight irritation of Goku being gone for so long again without a single visit, phone call or letter.

"Hello?..." Master Roshi continued through the phone, "Why do all women avoid talking to me?..."

On his way home, Goku had managed to run up a rather high bill in a ramen shop he'd stopped at in West City without realising it. Luckily Master Roshi was coincidentally in the area and was able to bail him out. He said something about wanting to use the cash to spend time with some 'special' ladies. Goku wasn't sure what he meant by that exactly but he would be sure to take note to pay him back as soon as possible.

While they were together, the old martial arts master was greeted by a group of six kids. Three of them were wearing turtle uniforms and the other three were wearing crane uniforms. Roshi introduced them as Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu's students. As it turns out, they had reopened the turtle and crane schools about two years ago, and had recently organised a joint teamwork activity in which the kids had to search for the dragon balls and all come to an agreement on what wishes to make. So far, they had gathered five.

Master Roshi had also filled Goku in on what was going on with his other friends and with his family. Bra had become a super saiyan, adding to Vegeta's ego and Trunks had becoming the Vice President of Capsule Corps., adding to Bulma's ego, but overall, not a huge deal had changed with his friends since he left and aside from the arrival of a new grandchild- which had Goku very excited- not much more had drastically changed with his family either. He was proud to hear that Gohan and Videl were doing well in their work- Videl having changed vocations not long after he left with Uub- and that Goten was making use of his martial arts skills in his job. Pan continuing her training with Piccolo was another pleasant thing to hear about. What was less pleasant though was to hear that Ox King hadn't been too well recently and as a result, Chichi had become a little more stressed than usual. Goku was sure he'd be okay though. Ox King was getting on in years, but he was a very strong human.

Shifting his focus from his thoughts to the world around him, Goku realised that he was right near his house. Landing, he approached the front door.

"Finally," he thought to himself as he reached for the doorknob, "I'm home."


End file.
